Pencil vs MindVoice
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pencil
This app allows users to handwrite, sketch, and annotate PDFs on their iPad and iPhone. It supports Apple Pencil and other styluses for note-taking, drawing, and even watercolor painting. Features include audio recording within notes and AI assistance for summarizing and translation.
- Handwrite and sketch with stylus or finger
- Annotate and mark up PDFs
- Record audio directly in notes
- Create formatted text notes
- Watercolor painting workspace
- Scan and import documents
- AI assistance for summaries and translation
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Pencil brings handwriting, sketching, PDF annotation and watercolor painting to iPad and iPhone. Designed especially for Apple Pencil on iPad, it also works with other compatible styluses and your finger. Take notes in class, mark up a document, plan your week or paint an idea while it is still fresh. • Write and sketch your way. Use Apple Pencil on iPad, or write and draw with a compatible stylus or your finger on iPad and iPhone. Start a PDF note from a paper template, choose your ink colors and add typed text, images and shapes. Use lined or grid backgrounds to give your notes structure. • Make your PDFs useful. Highlight passages, add comments, write in the margins and insert your signature. Search inside a document, bookmark important pages and rearrange, duplicate or rotate pages as your work develops. • Keep the conversation with your notes. Record audio directly in a PDF note and play it back alongside the page. Revisit a lecture, meeting or explanation without separating the recording from your written notes. • Type when words come first. Create formatted Text Notes with fonts, colors, lists, checklists, tables and images. Turn a quick thought into a clear set of notes, a plan or a longer draft, then export it as a PDF to share. • Explore watercolor painting. Open a dedicated painting workspace, choose your paper and experiment with brushes, mixed colors and washes. Paint from a reference photo, try guided practice lessons and export your painting as an image or PDF. • Bring paper into your notebook. Scan documents with the camera, import files through the Files app and add photos to your work. Keep notes, PDFs and paintings organized in folders, ready to return to when you need them. • Get help from AI. Ask questions about your documents, summarize a passage, explain an unfamiliar concept or translate selected text. Use AI Chat to work through an idea alongside your notes. Privacy Policy: https://www.noteswriter.com/Kairoos_Privacy_Policy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
MindVoice
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Your brain isn't a filing cabinet. Stop trying to remember everything. MindVoice captures your thoughts the moment they happen. Tap record, speak your mind, and move on. At the end of the day, you get an AI-powered summary with everything organized into actionable checklists. HOW IT WORKS 1. Tap the mic and speak your thought 2. MindVoice transcribes and cleans up your words instantly 3. Entries are automatically categorized - Shopping, Work, Health, Personal, Ideas, Reminders 4. Generate a daily summary with actionable checklists and personal reflections 5. Check off completed items and track what's still outstanding DAILY SUMMARIES THAT ACTUALLY HELP - Every action item becomes a checklist you can tap to complete - Reflections are written as personal journal entries - Outstanding tab tracks unchecked items across all your days - Daily Insight gives you an encouraging reflection on your day FREE - NO ACCOUNT REQUIRED - Unlimited voice recordings - On-device transcription - private, no data leaves your phone - AI-powered categorization and daily summaries - Background summaries generated at 7 AM and 5 PM - Home screen widget for one-tap capture - Dark mode support PREMIUM - Real-time streaming transcription - see words appear as you speak - Cloud transcription with higher accuracy - Unlimited cloud AI summaries - Sync across all your devices - Free trial with full access PRIVACY FIRST Your voice recordings stay on your device. Free tier runs entirely on-device with no network requests. Premium cloud features are processed through our secure infrastructure - we never store your audio or transcriptions. PERFECT FOR - Brain dumpers who think out loud - Busy parents juggling a million things - Professionals capturing ideas on the go - Anyone who forgets what they needed at the store Stop losing thoughts. Start capturing them. Privacy Policy: https://getmindvoice.com/privacy-policy.html Terms of Use: https://getmindvoice.com/terms.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: MindVoice at 17.0 against Pencil's 26.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Pencil sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days and MindVoice sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pencil | MindVoice |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (4 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 25.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 511 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kairoos Solutions SL | Forward Alpha, LLC |
In-app purchases
Pencil
- Weekly$1.997 Days
- Unlock All and AI Assistant3 Days trial$3.991 Month
- Pencil Annual3 Days trial$14.991 Year
- Pencil Lifetime$14.99
MindVoice
- Premium Monthly$4.991 Month
- Earlybird Annual$24.991 Year
- Premium Annual$49.991 Year









